El Campero

El Campero is a tuna restaurant on Avenida de la Constitución in Barbate, on the Costa de la Luz in the province of Cádiz. It is known for the wild bluefin tuna caught in the almadraba, the traditional net fishery of the coast.

José Melero, known as Pepe, made the family business famous after taking it over when his father fell ill. He started with a small tasca, a tapas bar of barely 40 square meters (430 sq ft), and spent decades cooking tuna. Picking through the leftovers of the fish, he found the morrillo, a cut from behind the head that became one of the house signatures. In 2025 the Cádiz hospitality group Azotea, founded by Cristina Lasvignes and José Manuel García, bought the restaurant and later opened a branch in a restored mansion in Madrid's Salamanca district.

The menu breaks the tuna into many parts: morrillo, ventresca, galete, solomillo, palate, heart and roe all appear. Ventresca toro is served as sashimi, the palate as carpaccio and the loin as nigiri, while galete is stewed and solomillo comes with Cádiz chicharrón and manteca colorá. A tasting menu called El Susurro de los Atunes, the whisper of the tunas, runs through the cuts, and the à la carte adds stews, rice dishes and fish sold by weight. Using the whole animal is the old habit of the fishing towns, here turned into a menu.

A modern dining room sits beside an informal tapas area and a covered terrace that has been enlarged. The Guía Repsol gives El Campero two suns, and the Michelin Guide lists it among its selected restaurants. For many visitors, the almadraba season is the reason to come to Barbate, and the restaurant has become its best-known table.